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Grey’s Anatomy’s Camilla Luddington Swears Your Lashes Will ‘Definitely Look Longer’ With This $12 Mascara
Friday, April 7th, 2023
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On the set of Grey’s Anatomy, actress Camilla Luddington’s makeup routine is pretty low-key (after all, she plays a busy OBGYN doctor on the long-running series, so there’s no need for full glam). Instead, Luddington prefers to play around with makeup in her real life — and the British actress has been vocal about her go-to makeup products over the years.
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On Grey’s Anatomy, ABC’s medical drama that follows the professional and personal lives of surgical interns, residents and attendings at Grey Sloan Memorial, Luddington plays Dr. Jo Wilson, an obstetrics and gynecology resident at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. She joined the show in the ninth season, was upgraded to a season regular in Season 10 and has a remained core cast member ever since. Grey’s Anatomy was recently renewed for a 20th season by ABC — and according to Luddington — she has no plans to leave the medical drama on her own accord. “I am loving this Season [19] so much that I’m in it. Quite simply, I’m in it,” she said. “I also feel like Jo’s story has not been completely told yet. It would feel strange to me to walk away at this point. I’m committed,” she told Entertainment Tonight in November 2022.
The English-born actress moved to Austin, Texas, when she was 14 years old. She attended the New York Film Academy and eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. Luddington has held lead roles in films like William & Kate: The Movie and The Healer and TV shows like Californication and True Blood, in addition to her 10 seasons at Grey’s. In her personal life, Luddington is married to fellow actor Matthew Alen, who she first met when the two “waited tables together when we first got to Los Angeles,” she said in an interview with Today in April 2018. The couple announced in October 2016 that they were expecting a baby, and their daughter, Hayden Alen, was born in March 2017. The pair got engaged in January 2018 and tied the knot one year later in August 2019. They welcomed their son, Lucas Alen, in August 2020.
In an interview with New Beauty in 2016, Ludington explained how her beauty routine is different than her regime on Grey’s. “In real life, I absolutely wear less skin makeup, but more eye makeup. This season [12] there has been a concerted effort to make sure we look even more natural on camera. If you look back to previous seasons, you can see I’m wearing more lashes and eyeliner. Now, I barely wear any eye makeup on set.” She continued: “In my day-to-day life though, I’m a sucker for bronzed eye shadow and a chocolate brown liner. What I have taken from Grey’s though? I did buy the exact same lipsticks (I mix two) to wear in my real life.”
Camilla Luddington’s Favorite Makeup Products
We’re sharing Luddington’s go-to makeup staples over the years, from her favorite blending bronzer to the makeup wipes she stores in her car. Best of all, all of the products below are available to buy on Target for under $32. Let’s get shopping!
L’Oreal Paris Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara
For mascara, Luddington swears by L’Oréal’s Paris Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara. “What I love about this mascara is that it actually comes with a primer. So, you put the primer on first, which I had never experienced with mascara before and it adds more volume and apparently more length, which I believe is true because my lashes definitely look longer after. I just love the shape on the inside,” she said in a YouTube video with Byrdie.
Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Matte Powder Bronzer
You’ve definitely heard about this fan-favorite bronzer (and it’s one of Luddington’s top picks). The silky soft bronzer has an effortless matte finish and is easily bendable, and Luddington uses it to achieve a soft contour look. “I take Benefit’s Hoola Matte Bronzer and I use it for a subtle contour,” she told E! News in September 2016. “I sweep it down my temples, under my cheekbones and then under my jaw to make a 3-shape on my face.”
Benefit Cosmetics WANDERful World Silky-Soft Powder Blush
The actress uses another Benefits Cosmetics product, the WANDERful World Silky-Soft Power Blush, to bring vibrance to her cheeks. The blush comes in warm and pink shades, including Sunny Warm Coral and Crystah Strawberry Pink, to complement a variety of skin tones. “Then, I take my Benefit Coralista Blush and I add it for a pop of color just on my cheeks,” she also told E! News.
Neutrogena Fragrance-Free Makeup Remover Cleansing Wipes
After a long shoot day at Grey’s, there’s one cleansing makeup product that Luddington can’t live without: Neutrogena’s Cleansing Wipes. “At the end of the workday on Grey’s, obviously we have been caked in makeup all day and had hours upon hours of powder added to us. So, I actually keep Neutrogena deep clean oil-free makeup remover cleaning wipes in my car,” she told Byrdie. When the actress is stuck in L.A. traffic, she uses the cleansing wipes to take off her makeup to save time. “I’m someone that has really sensitive skin and sometimes I can break out in hives even if I use certain things. So, this has always been my go-to because I do feel like it’s definitely great if you have sensitive skin like me. This is something that never breaks me out, I literally keep it in my car every day.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.
Check out the real-life partners of your favorite Grey’s Anatomy stars in the gallery below
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> The foul-mouthed Roy family proves that the only way in which the rich are truly different is that their dysfunctions play out in mansions and exotic locales. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Beaten-down hubby Tom Wamsbgans telling wife Shiv, “I wonder if the sad I’d be without you would be less than the sad I get from being with you.” Ouch. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The HBO hit’s bombastic patriarch, Logan Roy (played by the inimitable Brian Cox) originally was set to die in the pilot episode, setting in motion a battle for control of Waystar Royco.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> In 1990, the supernova that was ABC’s short-lived David Lynch series was something altogether new, a traditional soap on an alternately dreamy and nightmarish acid trip. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 episode that revealed that Laura Palmer had been killed by her possessed father. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> In 2017’s Showtime revival, Lynch muse Laura Dern finally gave a face to Diane Evans, the FBI secretary to whom Special Agent Dale Cooper was always dictating messages.</p>
Image: Paramount Network
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount Network Western pulls no punches, and neither do any of the members of the rough-and-tumble Dutton family. Well, maybe Jamie. (But he’s adopted.) <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The outta-control Season 4 finale that gunned down John, took aim at Kayce and blew up Beth. Or <em>tried</em> to, anyway. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> As of Season 5, Sheridan has written or co-written every episode of the series, which has thus far spawned two prequels, <em>1883</em> and <em>1932</em>.</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy Everett of the Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> As much as we may hate actually going to see the doctor, we can’t get enough of medical dramas set in hospitals. Plus, this long-running NBC series featured George Clooney, whose Dr. Doug Ross was the original McDreamy. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 episode in which Ross saved a child trapped in a storm drain left us breathless and helped propel Clooney to superstardom. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The series was created by Michael Crichton. Yes, the same man who gave us <em>Jurassic Park. </em></p>
Image: OWN/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> There was no “there” to which Tyler Perry’s OWN soap wouldn’t go. Yet neither Jeffrey Harrington stabbing his homophobic Mommie Dearest in the breast implant nor Veronica Harrington setting her estranged husband on fire is <strong>What We’ll Never Forget:</strong> That would be Crystal R. Fox’s fierce portrayal of long-suffering Hanna Young. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> In 2022, Tika Sumpter, who played Candace Young, tied the knot with co-star Nicholas James, aka off-kilter Officer Justin Lewis.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Over the course of its 2016-22 run, the creators of the NBC series proved master manipulators where our emotional well-being was concerned. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The unbreakable bond between the Big Three — the Pearson siblings. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> So upset were fans upon learning that a slow cooker was the cause of Jack Pearson’s death that the makers of the responsible appliance posted a Facebook message addressing the incident. “We love [Jack], and we love you, too. Don’t further add to our heartbreak by no longer using Crock-Pot Slow Cookers.” </p>
Image: Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Unlike its American brethren, the British sudser makes a big deal of the “little people.” In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a “have” amongst the “have-nots” who populate Albert Square and hang at its beloved Queen Vic pub. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The 2008 tearjerker in which Dot Cotton recorded an episode-long farewell monologue to former hubby Jim. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> For 28 years running, June Brown’s Dot wore the same dress on Christmas Day. </p>
Image: Aaron Spelling Productions/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> In a way, we grew up with the characters on Aaron Spelling’s 1990-2000 Fox hit, which originated as the fish-out-of-water story of sheltered Minnesota twins transferred to schmancy West Beverly High. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The heated debates that erupted over Season 3’s Brenda/Dylan/Kelly triangle. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Since the network wasn’t initially as sold on Luke Perry or the character of Dylan McKay as Spelling was, the EP at first paid the future teen idol’s salary himself.</p>
Image: Fox Image Collection/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> While we could wax poetic about the shocking plot twists which befell the Lyon family as they fought for control of their hip-hop dynasty, the truth is, what we <em>really</em> loved was Taraji P. Henson’s trash-talking Cookie. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Sadly, the show will likely be most remembered for star Jussie Smollett staging a fake attack against himself. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Henson darn near got a spinoff focused on her character, but that Cookie crumbled before the proposed show could launch.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Nineteen seasons in, Shonda Rhimes’ medical drama never forgets that sometimes all it takes to get a <span style="text-decoration: line-through">patient</span> series off life support is a transfusion of fresh blood. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Season 5’s finale, which kept us waiting till the last second to learn whether Izzie Stevens or George O’Malley died. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Original cast member Ellen Pompeo was TV’s highest-paid actress — to the tune of $20M/year — when she stepped away from her role of Meredith Grey in 2022.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> The suburbs-set 2004-12 series beautifully combined slapstick comedy with dark drama while chronicling the lives of Wisteria Lane’s residents… as seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor! <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Early in Season 1, Gabrielle Solis mowed her lawn in a full-length evening gown to prevent her hubby from finding out their hunky young gardener had been too busy tending to her needs to do the chore himself. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Said gardener was played by none other than a post-<em>Passions</em>, pre-<em>Chesapeake Shores</em> Jesse Metcalfe.</p>
Image: Fox/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> After Aaron Spelling spiked his <em>Beverly Hills, 90210</em> spinoff with <em>Dynasty</em> vet Heather Locklear as Amanda Woodward, it went from plain and boring to wild and crazy. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 scene in which a back-from-the-dead Kimberly Shaw ripped off her wig to reveal her scarred head. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Years after the show ended, Locklear dated and even got engaged to former leading man Jack Wagner, who’d played her love/hate interest, Dr. Peter Burns.</p>
Image: Aaron Spelling Prods./Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> ABC’s answer to <em>Dallas</em> was heavy on the glitz and glamour and even heavier on the catfights and spectacles. (Moldavian massacre, anyone?) <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Joan Collins’ Season 2 debut as Blake Carrington’s ex, Alexis, who elevated bitchcraft to an art form and moved the series out of Dullsville. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The role of the scheme queen was originally supposed to go to Sophia Loren. Elizabeth Taylor and Jessica Walter were also pursued, Collins told <em>W</em> in 2018. </p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Based on Grace Metalious’ novel, ABC’s 1964-69 serial about a small town with big secrets was so addictive that at one point, three new episodes aired every week. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Lee Grant’s stunning turn as the sublimely cynical Stella Chernak. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The exit of rising star Mia Farrow in 1966 not only killed the popular Allison/Rodney/Betty triangle with Ryan O’Neal and Barbara Parkins’ characters, it began the series’ slide toward the primetime graveyard.</p>
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